Turn Right Climb

COPY OF POST FROM QUEENCITY CYCLING CLUB MESSGAE BOARD

Thought this might be fun A little fitness tracker/ race/ personal challenge. Go climb Betsey Bell and post your time and any pertanant info on here and I'll keep a spreadsheet of everyone's efforts and track peoples progress.

HERE IS THE ROUTE AND GPS CLIMB INFO: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7607980The

Start is behind Burger King off Greenville Ave. in the back parking lot near the dumpster behind the store. I WILL BE PAINTING A LINE WITH A "Q" AT THE END OF IT WHERE YOU START. From this line you can see traffic turning to head up Betsey Bell and of course you should wait for traffic before you begin as you will turn right onto Betsey Bell Rd from the parking lot. (I should ge the line painted tommorrow if the pavement is dry)

The finish is at the top of the climb at the turnaround. The first tree in the center of the turnaround is the finish line marker. I will tie some ribbon or something around the tree, but there is no spray paint or etc. on the road or tree.

The route is half pavement and half gravel. Should be interesting to see if the fastest time is from a moutainbike or a road bike. This should be a fun tool to guage fitness throughout the year and a fun test to see who post the fastest short climb in town.

The Climb1.08 miles long710 foot elevation gain11.6%Avg Grade according to GPS, but I have doubts....?

Now go CLIMB IT.

LINK TO WHERE TO POST YOUR TIME

I have definitely been quite slack when it comes to updating the blog here, but here it goes as to what’s been going on.

The past few weekends the crew here in Staunton has been working in Montgomery Hall Park adding some primo single-track to the parks growing quiver of trails. We have had great turnout on each workday and have already cleared and raked a little less than a mile of trails that have some nice straights, open corners, a few log hops, and some nice rock features. The newest trail will be a little more open and less demanding than the old-new trail a.k.a. Scout Trail or Pretzel trail. Some sections of it need some benching, but it shouldn’t be long before it connects to something.

I got my self and Miss Lindsay snowboards and all the accoutrements for festivas this year and a set of season passes to Wintergreen. TNF Jon went with me a few days before x-mas to show me the ropes and to help me get my feet wet a little and as Lindsay was already home in Pittsburgh she missed out on the first few days of “Riding”. Well I had a great time with Jon and decided to go back to W’green the day before X-mas eve by myself. Long story short I do not know yet how to get through heavy ice and fell and landed on my right shoulder. A quick trip to AMC’s ER and I now have a AC separation. Well I guess that’s better than a dislocation or a broken collar bone.

A week in a sling, and a week taking it easy and I already have all of my range of motion back in my shoulder but it feels weak and still screams with pain when I put weight on it in certain positions. I guess I can’t complain to much as Mark R. has separated his twice and also broken a collar bone before. I been back to W’green this week and ridden on my MTB on the road this week, but taking it very easy and trying not to fall on my right side. A little while longer and I’ll be back to riding and “riding” the Gnar Gnar.

Elliots Knob

HIKING HURTS WORSE THAN CYCLING

BEEN A FEW CRICKETS

Man, it has been a while since I updated this thing. A lot has happened since the last post. It has been quite busy in the shop and now that the cooler weather is rolling in I should have a little time to search the web for funny you tube videos, great mountain bikes crashes, and finally look at all the bling pics from another interbike that I missed.

WHAT"S BEEN GOIN ON......

MHP(Montgomery Hall Park) now has a new piece of primo singletrack right here in the city limits. It is short but is muy fun.

We had another great Fall Foliage Bike Fest last weekend with 550 attendees this year. Black Dog Bikes was slammed Friday and Saturday with people taking advantage of our fall clothing sale since the weather turned chilly Friday and Saturday morning.

CX in Staunton.... Staunton's edition of the Blue Ridge Cup CX race was yesturday on a course designed by me and Mark R. We had well over 20 riders and plenty of spectators to cheers on the racers. Fun day for sure!

Heading out to the Tidewater Challenge this weekend in Williamsburg for the 6hr race. We'll see if I can still keep moving for 6hrs. I feel as if my fitness has dropped considferable after the SM100 in September as I was hit with on sickness after another. I am feeling a little back on Par, so we'll see how six hrs on my bike fgeels this weekend.

THAT RIDE WAS THE BEE'S KNEES

I've been heckled enough here lately about not updating my blog that Figured I should tell the blogospere about the eventful ride of yesterday. Sorry for the lag of postings to everyone that reads my blog. It has been quite busy here here in the shop with plenty of bikes to wrench and etc.

Yesterday Jon Sellers, Keith F., Vermonty Matt, and myself rode up Mills Creek trail up the switchbacks and down the Slacks trail, down White Rock Gap to Sherando and then back out to coal road where our cars were waiting.

Heading into the woods the temp was great, the skys were clear, and we were all ready for a great epic ride.......



Heading up Mills Creek Trail there is a section of trail that is enclosed by some small ornamental looking trees for around 200 yrds forming a really nice tunnel effect.I rode by a manmade looking pile of sticks in the trail and then a stick stuck up in the dirt with a Mountain Dew Bottle on top of it. "What the hell is that about" I rode up and under a low lieing branch with a lot of foliage on it and then all of the sudden felt a sharp pain in my arm and back........!!!!!!!!!!!.....I was confused and hadn't fully understood what was going on until I looked back at Jon S. who was running up the trail screaming as he stripped his clothes off and had a full buzz of wasp hitting him hard. By that point Vermonty Matt and Keith had already been hit hard by the wasp.

After quite a bit of screaming and flailing we had regained some composure and realized that their was a huge wasp nest int he branch laying across the trail that was right at shoulder level when on your bike. Jon, Matt, and Keith didn't have a chance after I realized that I had pissed them off by hitting their nest and those guys rode full tilt into the fury of pissed of wasps.

Ouch and now itchy, but I only got four stings. I think Matt and Jon got a whole lot more.

One for history. Pay attention to piles of sticks and other warnings that people have put down to try to warn others.

MOMMA'S PROFILE

MOMMA SLAPPED MY ASS AROUND!!!

The Middle Mountain Momma was this morning and we could not have asked for better weather for the race. Matt Trybus and myself headed over from Staunton to Douthat State Park to ride the XXC an endurance length 40mile point to point mountain bike race.

There were no water or rest stops. You were out in the wilderness by yourself for this thing and had quite a few monster climbs to tackle. You sarted from the start climbing for a full hour up to the middle mountain ridge top, and then had a killer climb up on the South side of the park that also lasted for around an hour that you started at mile 30. Thrown in for good measure along the way were some silly steep quad crushers that were only ridden by the superheros at the front of the ride.

At mile 15ish, after the really long stony run climb and numerous steep pitches on the Natl Forest trails Matt and myself split ways for a bit. His legs were feeling bad and we had covered two super steep climbs and one long climb but only 15ish miles. He told me he was going to bail when he got a chance, so I left him and laid the hammer down on a five mile gravel road climb as hard as I could and passed around 6 or 7 other XXC racers. I was proud of that and thought that as long as I could hold that position for the last 20miles that I would call the ride a success(even though later in the ride I decided finishing this hellacious 40mile epic was a success) so I kept the tempo up and ended up passing a few more XXC racers before the final slog up to the brushy mountain trail.

I ended up only going ass over tea-kettle on two of the many switchbacks and felt like I was able to finish strong so this ride was definately a success. AND THEN..... I roll into the finish expecting to see a dissapointed Matt that had stopped early because he was feeling bad, but.....there wasn't a bike(Matt's Bike) on my car, or near the car, or in the field where others were laying, hanging out, etc. around.......THAT DIRTY DOG KEPT ON TRUCKING! Hell yeah Matt. The 40 miles of nasty climbs and descents were all ridden by Matt. He also finished really strong in the group after thinking he would bail on completeing the enite ride.

TAKE THAT MOMMA!!!

MAY IS BIKE MONTH!!!

Governor Kaine has proclaimed May is Bike Month. He will read the below proclamation at the State Capitol in Richmond on Thursday, May 1 at 9:00 a.m.

2008 May is Bike Month Proclamation

WHEREAS, for more than a century, the bicycle has been an important part of the lives
of many Americans, and today residents of all ages throughout our great Commonwealth
engage in bicycling for transportation, recreation, fitness, and fun; and

WHEREAS, bicycling is the most efficient form of transportation and offers independent
mobility for many Virginians traveling between work, school, and home, and the use of
bicycles for transportation benefits all residents of Virginia by easing traffic congestion,
reducing air pollution, and saving highway construction dollars; and

WHEREAS, bicycling is recognized as an activity that can reduce the onset of chronic
disease and reduce childhood obesity, and consideration of bicycling in transportation
and land use planning, and in programs such as Safe Routes to School will help create
healthier and more active communities in Virginia; and

WHEREAS, bicycling offers a unique perspective from which residents and visitors may
discover Virginia’s natural beauty, history, and culture, and a vast network of scenic rural
roads and pleasant weather conditions make the Old Dominion a favorite destination for
bicycling enthusiasts; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth contains more miles of the U.S. Numbered Bicycle
Route System than any other state, and is the only place where two routes intersect, and
Virginia is fortunate to play host to many organized recreational, charitable, and
competitive bicycling events, each of which contributes much to Virginia’s economy; and

WHEREAS, Bike Month provides an opportunity to increase public awareness of the
many benefits of bicycling, to promote bicycle safety, and to encourage bike riding
through organized activities such as Bike-to-Work events, club rid es, family rides, and
bike rodeos for children;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Timothy M. Kaine, do hereby recognize May 2008 as BIKE
MONTH in the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the
attention of all our citizens.y 1 at 9:00 a.m.